Studio Renn: playing with decay and diamonds

In late August, a start-up Indian jewellery label dazzled in Las Vegas. Studio Renn, a three-year-old Mumbai-based jewellery firm, debuted internationally to win the Innovation award at Couture, a major annual event in the fine jewellery and luxury watches industry. The award winning piece, the Strangler ring, is an acid-treated concrete construct reinforced with blackened 18K grey gold and brilliant-cut round diamonds. Because of the US travel ban, the co-founders, spouses Rahul and Roshni Jhaveri, watched the ceremony virtually. “It was a surreal feeling,” says Rahul, 36, while Roshni, 37, explains that innovation is a significant part of their design practice. “It’s not just innovation using an unexpected material, but also through finishes and discovery.”

Beauty from destruction

Since inception, the duo’s creations have elevated jewel design into sculptural art forms. The Strangler is a by-product of their ongoing study of atrophy, or the impermanence of things. “It took multiple tries to get the edges absolutely perfect, and by acid treating it, the idea was to let go of the false sense of control we always have,” Rahul, Renn’s creative director, says. “It is this destructive act that softens the edges, partially exposes the inner form — to create the final ring. We are creating the work by seemingly destroying it, but also allowing the work to create itself serendipitously.”

Respected art collector Czaee Shah came across Studio Renn during their first exhibit in Mumbai in 2019. “I had not encountered, and still have not encountered, another jewellery design practice like theirs in India — no one whose work straddles the worlds of art and adornment so uniquely,” she says. “The Studio stands apart by not referencing Indian antique jewellery, as everyone else does, but opts for avant-garde designs and innovative techniques.” Like the Boletus Sp Rotting rings, another discourse on atrophy. The trio of 18K white and rose gold rings have reverse-set Burmese rubies and diamonds, and when seen together, each depicts the progression of ‘rot’.

A material world

These highly-specialised pieces are a deliberate approach by Studio Renn to put design at the forefront of their jewellery. To do this, Rahul and Roshni interact with a host of creative individuals. “Architects, interior designers, visual artists, choreographers, performers, it’s from this tribe of creative people that we draw a lot of our inspiration,” Rahul says. The Strangler, for instance, is a collaboration with Mumbai-based architectural firm Material Immaterial Studio.

One of the brand’s collaborations, titled (An) otherness, comprises 65 pieces that were the product of discussions between the studio and contemporary artist Prashant Salvi. It grew from a series of sketches to become an exploration of texture, materiality, shapes, and techniques. The results include pieces like the Orange Peel Ruby Reflections bracelet, in 18k white and high-gloss rose gold, set with Burmese rubies and diamonds. The rubies are hidden from sight but visible through reflections, a marvel of light and shadow. “We are constantly experimenting with and exploring materials to enhance the design experience,” Roshni says.

Prior to the pandemic, Studio Renn debuted their collections in immersive installations in Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad (a Delhi exhibit is now on the cards). Working with leading design curator Divya Thakur on their first Mumbai show, Seeing the Unseen, in February 2019, or with American music composer Randall Taylor and Mumbai sculptor Nilesh Kinkale on The Fringe: Infinite Possibilities, in January 2020, resulted in exhibits that were more sensorial artistic expressions than typical commercial ones.

Orange Peel Ruby Reflections bracelet
 
| Photo Credit: Varun Shringi